Playing in its first home game of the year on the newly installed wood floor of the Dan and Ada Rice Center on Saturday, Benedictine toppled Maranatha Baptist Bible College Saturday in convincing fashion, 83-57.
Benedictine (5-8, 3-5 in Northern Athletics Conference) grabbed the lead three minutes into the contest and never looked back, enjoying a 20-point advantage at the intermission.
The Eagles extended their lead to as much as 35 points in the second half thanks to scoring efforts by 12 different Eagles.
Tracey Walsh led Benedictine with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Monika Krozel (13 points, 4 rebounds) and Karyn Conerty (10 points) rounded out the double-digit scoring for Benedictine, while point guard Lidia Arias led the Eagles with five assists. Karissa Povlsen provided some scoring off the bench, picking up nine points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Benedictine’s biggest advantage Saturday may have been its speed, as the Eagles held an 18-4 advantage on fast break points.
Defensively, the Eagles stifled Maranatha (4-7, 1-7 NAC) as the Crusaders shot only 33.8 percent for the game, including a 6-of-24 mark from beyond the arc.
Benedictine’s homecoming will be short-lived, however, as the Eagles will head back on the road Wednesday travelling to Milwaukee to take on Wisconsin Lutheran.
Benedictine returns to the Rice Center Tuesday, January 26 to entertain rival Aurora University.
For more Athletics News, visit the Athletics Web site.

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Benedictine University is an independent Roman Catholic institution located in Lisle, Illinois just 25 miles west of Chicago. Founded in 1887, Benedictine provides 56 undergraduate majors, 16 graduate and four doctorate programs. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently ranked Benedictine University as the seventh fastest-growing campus among private nonprofit master’s universities, and Forbes magazine named Benedictine among the top 20 percent of America’s colleges for 2011. Benedictine University’s Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program is listed by Crain’s Chicago Business as the fourth largest in the Chicago area in 2011.